One of the most common questions we get at Nerds Limited from small business owners is, “I love my iPad, how can it help me streamline my small business like it streamlined my personal life?”  Glad you asked!  Here are some of the best apps for small businesses.

Get a Pro Dropbox account and use it to store only your documents.  That will allow every one you authorize to view current files in the field.  Next, there’s Polkast and its accompanying Polkast for iPad app.  This little beauty will allow access to a PC or Mac’s storage as long as the computer is on.  Finally, there’s the expensive, but crucial LogMeIn Ignition which allows unlimited direct screen sharing via iPhone or iPad from anywhere in the world.  Move your mouse from anywhere you have net access!  All without monthly subscriptions to expensive remote clients.

On the hardware side, if your small business gives presentations, don’t overlook the relatively inexpensive iPad HDMI Adapter. This little beauty takes the guesswork out of presenting a slide show and makes the entire workflow feel more natural.  If you’re feeling like you’d really like to impress during your presentations, pick up a 2nd Generation Apple TV and use it to give your presentations wirelessly!  Pace around with the iPad and as long as both devices are connected via WiFi, rest assured, your presentation will come through flawlessly!  The Apple TV can do what the Airport Extreme does with Airplay to stream to speakers, except with HD video.

Along the presentation line, Keynote for Mac users & QuickOffice Pro HD for PowerPoint users allows

for easy keynote and PPTx file types to be played on the iPad.  Care to hand out copies of your idea to everyone in the room in addition to remote clients?  Try Conde Nast’s Idea Flight.  Then there’s the ever popular GoodReader: far and away the best way to annotate any kind of file.

For consultants who run mostly Mac based systems, the Marketcircle app Billings has an excellent workflow for generating invoices.  Nerds Limited’s invoicing system has been 100% billings for the past two years and we couldn’t be happier!  The only irritating limitation is the iOS version of Billings doesn’t store invoices it doesn’t create.  That aside, it is great!

Have more questions?  Feel free to call or text Nerds Limited any time!  Our contact information can be found on the main page, or Google Maps’ excellent Places Page.

To get a first generation iPad, we recommend Amazon.  If you think you’d like one, please use the link below. It gives us Ad credit.

iPad First Generation @Amazon

Here’s a little about inductive charging from Energizer. Rest assured, this will become more & more popular.

The Power of Qi

Pronounced (chee)!

Qi is the new universal standard for inductive charging. It’s a common language for inductive chargers and devices to talk to one another. Qi allows you to charge smartphones, cameras, MP3 players and anything else that needs 5W or less without directly plugging the devices into anything!

It is very similar to other standards like Bluetooth^® and Wi-Fi™. It is anticipated that the Qi universal standard will be broadly adopted by mobile device manufacturers and the others, providing you with the freedom to charge all Qi-enabled devices on a single station without multiple cords and eventually without Qi accessories.

Qi was created by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which is a cooperation of Asian, European and American companies from diverse industries. Most of the major consumer electronics companies are members including, RIM, Verizon, Nokia, HTC, LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Panasonic and Motorola. Strict standardized testing and certification is required before any product can carry the Qi symbol.

So you got a Tech gift recently which you’re sure can do more.  You’re probably right!  Life Hacker recently published an excellent article entitled Set Up and Get to Know Your New Tech Gifts which we believe to be an excellent start to understanding your new gizmo.

Once you have and idea of what you’d like to do with your new and old and new tech gear, give Nerds Limited a call and see just how much we can do to take the guesswork out of your world!

Call or text +1 (505) 750-8885 day or night for rapid response.  If we’re with other clients, please leave voice mail and expect a response faster than you can say “help!”

Nerds Limited techs understand the companies behind the products.  Such expertise allows us to understand the motives behind certain movements in the tech world.

These undercurrents are beginning to shape our daily lives in way from minuscule to massive!

For example, Steve Jobs’ 2010 open letter entitled, “Thoughts on Flash” detailed Apple’s official policy on Adobe Flash.

Who cares? If you own an iPhone, you do!

The letter explains why Apple’s mobile division will probably never produce a device with a web browser which runs flash!  To quote the letter directly:

Besides the fact that Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn’t support touch based devices, there is an even more important reason we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. We have discussed the downsides of using Flash to play video and interactive content from websites, but Adobe also wants developers to adopt Flash to create apps that run on our mobile devices.

This is a simple example of Nerds Limited’s commitment to going beyond the headlines and technical manuals to grasp the whole picture.  Call Nerds Limited at 505-750-8885 to schedule your on-site appointment today and see just how good tech can be!

We have decided that the single best morsel of British Slang is the term ‘tosser’: so useful, so delicious?  What does tossing have to do with podcasts?  Well, most of us subscribe or at least dabble in Internet media (live, or podcasted) and most of that content is not consumed, or consumed inefficiently.  When it spoils, we either toss it, or let it clutter our drives.  Sound familiar?  Read on!

Keeping podcasts current on any device is a pain!Nobody syncs their phone any more.

• iThis (your Apple Device) hates gThat (your Android Phone) & won’t talk to your MacBook or PC Desktop.
• If I pause playback on my iPad and try to resume on my google phone, I’m out of luck.
• iTunes(PC or Mac) is not as simple as it looks.
  • Even the fastest windows computer, iTunes is intolerably slow & still is as inflexible as on any Mac.
  • Possibly the worst part:
    • Podcasts take up space on our disks when I really only want them on my mobile devices.

After such a horrific summary, what can possibly be done to save this exclusively first-world problem?

Stitcher!  We had given up on the entire class of ‘Sync-MEdia’  (our own term. Probably highly incorrect in programmer-speak) apps because they either crashed, didn’t function at all, or NEVER stopped downloading stuff, getting in the way of my usual Android phone tasks.

For those with smart phones (iPhones, Android, BlackBerry, Palm), Android Tablets, or iPads, take a look at stitcher on iOS and Android.
Think of Stitcher as Steve Jobs’ Baby delivered via Pandora‘s box.  That analogy is as bizarre as it is accurate.  Stitcher takes the RSS feeds from podcasts, LIVE feeds from Internet radio & TV, and mixes them according to your expressed preference (how much or often you consume what you say you like).  It stores A/V data intelligently according to your bandwidth constraints which can be overridden manually.  In our tests, it does an excellent job of never skipping while also not storing too much junk on your device.

How fast is fast enough when syncing media? Enter the Nerds Limited bathroom test.

The sync works between all devices so quickly that you can pause your iPad (WiFi) and resume on your google Android or iPhone (3G) for the amount of time required to go to the bathroom without spending an inefficient amount of time messing with the interface.  Once you’re logged in with a free Stitcher account, it also works via their Web site with all of the above functionality.

NetFlix comes close to passing our bathroom test, but doesn’t quite cut it.  Stitcher passes with flying colors!

A quick look at the press Stitcher has received from around the web tells us that we aren’t the only ones who really like it.

@NerdsLimited we are very impressed by Stitcher.  Much of our daily research involves simplifying our client’s daily tasks.  Do you live in the greater Albuquerque / Santa Fe area? Call or email Nerds Limited today and see just how well we can painlessly integrate your devices in to your daily life!